Into the Open Air
by snowangel420
Summary: Summary: When Young Macintosh stumbles upon a girl cast out from her family, and recognizes her as his best friend who moved years ago when they were little, the takes her along with him when he is chosen as a suitor for Princess Merida of DunBroch. Takes place during the movie.
1. Chapter 1: Cast Of Characters

Into the Open Air, a Brave (2012) FanFic

Summary: When Young Macintosh stumbles upon a girl cast out from her family, and recognizes her as his best friend who moved years ago when they were little, the takes her along with him when he is chosen as a suitor for Princess Merida of DunBroch. Takes place during the movie.

Chapter 1: Cast of Characters

Younger Macintosh: Jordan Nagai (did the voice of Russell from Up; couldn't find anyone else)

18-year old Eric Macintosh: Steven Cree

Lord Macintosh: Craig Ferguson

Lady Macintosh: Helena Bonham Carter

4-year old Heather Macdonald: Peigi Barker (also did the voice of young Merida)

17-year old Heather Macdonald: Karen Gillan

Lord Macdonald: David Tennant

Lady Macdonald: Tilda Swinton

Merida: Kelly Macdonald

Queen Elinor: Emma Thompson

King Fergus: Billy Connolly

Wee Dingwall: Callum O'Neil

Lord Dingwall: Robbie Coltrane

Young MacGuffin/Lord MacGuffin: Kevin McKidd


	2. Chapter 2: Prologue

A/N: Young Macintosh, or Eric, as I've decided to call him, will be a bit OOC….or a lot, depending how you look at it. I was going to have him be younger, about Merida's age at the beginning of Brave, and have him meet the Scottish version of my OC (I used a name generator to find out what her Scottish name would be) and them become friends over the years and him falling for her and her falling for him but not knowing what the other is feeling so they decide to ignore their feelings…sounds like another famous Disney couple *cough* KimandRon *cough* so I decided to not go with that idea…I decided to go with the fact that they used to be friends but she moved away and they grew apart until he stumbles upon her one day…then I thought of doing a prologue for the first chapter where they're younger and and they've been best friends for years and it's her last day there and she has to move and blah blah blah.

Sorry for the long Author's Note!

Chapter 2: Prologue

Eric Macintosh, age 5, of the Macintosh Clan, and Heather Macdonald, age 4, of the Macdonald clan, are playing in the forest near their camps. It's Heather and her family's last day in her kingdom, but neither Eric nor Heather are thinking about that; they're just worried who can climb the tree the fastest. Heather isn't a tomboy, but she isn't a super girly-girl either. She's in the middle, leaning a little more towards girly-girl than she is tomboy. Eric, on the other hand, is a typical boy: sporty, a little egotistical, but caring when it comes to his family and Heather and her family. Heather and Eric have known each other practically since the day they were born, and have been inseparable ever since.

"Heather, you know I can climb this tree faster than you." Eric says.

"Sure you can, Eric! I'm flexibler than you are!" Heather says, grabbing a branch and hoisting herself up.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah!" The two laugh.

Suddenly, a growl is heard below the two.

"Eric, tell me that was your stomach." Heather says, a little shaky.

"If I did, I'd be lying, and you k-know we're not supposed to lie." Eric replies.

The pair looks down to see a bear looking up at them menacingly.

"How are we going to get out of this, Eric?" Heather asks.

"You see that tree over there? We're gonna jump from tree to tree until we reach camp."

"What if the bear follows us?"

"We'll think of something. On the count of three, we're gonna jump. One, two, three, JUMP!" The pair jumps to the next tree, and the next one, but at the next one, Heather slips and her hand catches the branch.

"Eric!" Eric looks down to see Heather struggling to get out of the bear's reach.

"Hold on, Heather! I'll distract him!"

"Be careful, Eric!"

Eric carefully lowers himself down from the tree.

"Hey, bear! Come over this way!" Eric calls.

The bear turns his head, but doesn't move from his spot under Heather.

"Eric! I'm slipping!" As soon as Heather finishes that sentence, her hand loses complete grip on the branch and tumbles to the ground.

"Run, Heather!"

Without a second thought, Heather runs for her life, but the bear is on her tail.

_Why is this bear chasing Heather? _Eric wonders.

Heather trips on a root and falls to the ground.

She screams.

Back at the camps, Lord and Lady Macintosh, and Lord and Lady Macdonald have heard Heather's scream.

"The children!" All four parents exclaim. The four don't hesitate to run into the forest to save the children.

Back with the two kids, the bear has scratched Heather's left arm and she is now clutching it against a tree.

She screams as the bear gets closer to her.

"Get away from the lass, you big brute!" Lord Macintosh yells.

The four parents bang pots together and eventually get the bear away. Lord Macintosh, being closest to Heather, scoops the little girl up in his arms.

"Shh, you're all right, lass. You're all right." He says as little Heather starts to cry.

About 20 minutes pass as little Heather gets patched up. During that time, Eric tells his and Heather's parents what had happened.

"And then Heather slipped from the branch and fell down and then she tripped over the root and the bear scratched her arm."

"You were very brave to stand up to the bear yourself, son. But next time, let the grown-ups handle it, okay?" Lord Macintosh asks his son.

"Okay." Eric says.

"Daddy, do we really have to move away from Eric?" Heather asks from inside the healer's tent.

"Yes, sweetheart. You could've been killed today." Lord Macdonald says.

"But I wasn't. Eric saved me. I don't know why that bear was after me."

"Let's go, sweetheart."

"But –"

"No buts. You can have time to say goodbye, but nothing more." Lady Macdonald says.

Arm bandaged, Heather walks out of the tent, and sees the Macintosh family.

She first walks to Lady Macintosh, curtsies, and Lady Macintosh gives her a hug.

"I'll miss you, sweetheart. You've been so good to my son." Heather simply nods and walks to Lord Macintosh. She curtsies.

Lord Macintosh pulls her into a hug.

"You've been such a good girl, Heather. Take care of yourself." Heather nods.

Heather walks over to Eric and they look at each other solemnly, and do their secret handshake (pinky promise, thumb touch. In that order). Heather and Eric hug until Lord Macintosh and Lord Macdonald pull their children away.

Heather, not wanting to be away from her best friend, begins to sob. Her father begins to comfort her, even though he knows it'll be no use.

Heather and Eric look at each other until they're both spots in the distance.

**A/N: So…like it? Hate it? Well, I've already started the next chapter (which I will continue after I eat some brekky [breakfast]), so….yeah, read and review! No flames please!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Girl In the Fog

Chapter 3: The Girl In the Fog

*13 Years Later*

Eric Macintosh rides through the forest on horseback early in the morning, a couple of hours before sunrise, give or take a few minutes, nervous about the upcoming trip to DunBroch to try and win the princess' hand. He doesn't know much about Princess Merida; he knows what she looks like, but that's pretty much it.

Eric stops short when he spies something in the fog. Dismounting his horse and drawing his sword, Young Macintosh approaches the figure.

"Come out and face me, coward!" Eric exclaims.

"P-please! Don't hurt me!" A girl's voice rings out. She comes out from the fog, beaten and bruised. Eric can't believe his eyes; is this the girl he had known years ago who has been out of his life for 13 years?

She stumbles and falls; dropping his sword, Eric runs over to her and takes her in his arms. He spots the scar on her arm she had gotten from the bear years ago.

"Heather, is that you, lass?" Eric asks, stroking the girl's hair.

"Eric? I thought I'd never see you again." Heather says, caressing Eric's cheek, then falling unconscious.

Eric mounts his horse, Heather in his arms, and rides back to the family manor.

"Dad, you will never guess who I've found!"

"Eric, my boy, where have you been? We leave in half an hour!" Lord Macintosh says, talking to one of his men on the side.

"But, dad, you have to see who I've found." Eric says.

Lord Macintosh turns and sees Heather in Eric's arms.

"It can't be. Is it really Heather? After all these years?"

"Yeah, dad. It is. It's really her."

"What happened to her? I'll get the healer." Lord Macintosh gets the healer, a young woman of about 30, and, after placing Heather in her care, Eric tells his father about what happened.

"So, you don't know where she got the bruises from?"

"No."

"You did the right thing coming to me, son. You've learned after all those years to let the grown-ups handle it."

"Daaad."

The healer walks over to the two.

"Thankfully, nothing's been broken or anything. But the bruises will make her sore for a while."

"Did she tell you where she got the bruises from?"

"She wouldn't say. I asked her about them, but she said she didn't want to talk about it. She said she would only talk to her best friend." The healer says, looking at Young Macintosh.

"I'll go talk to her." Eric says.

Eric walks to the room where Heather is staying and knocks on the door.

"Who is it?" Heather asks.

"It's me."

"Me who?"

"Me be your best friend." Eric says, smiling. It was a joke they had made as kids. When Heather's grandmother passed away, and refused to come out of her room, Eric tried this joke on her, and Heather shared all her feelings about her grandmother's death.

"Come on in, Eric." Heather says. Eric walks in.

"Hey. How you doin'?"

"Okay. The healer said nothing's broken or anything. But I'll be sore for a while from the bruises."

"So, what happened to you?" Eric asks, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Heather sighs as tears form in her eyes. She struggles to sit up, but Eric helps her.

"It was my stepdad. After my dad died, my mom got remarried. He was very abusive and my mother knew but she didn't do a thing about it. He tried to choke me to death." Heather says, pulling her hair away from her neck. When she does, Eric sees the handprints.

"How did your father die?" Eric asks. Tears start streaming down Heather's cheeks.

"It was a bear attack. I thought about defending him, but…I was just too afraid. I just stood there, frozen in fear, doing nothing when I could've done something and I did nothing!" Heather breaks down and Eric puts his arms around her.

"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault." Eric says.

There is a knock at the door

"Who is it?" Eric asks, Heather still in his arms.

"It's your father! We're leaving in 10 minutes!"

Heather looks up at Eric.

"Where are you going?" Heather asks.

"I am a suitor for the princess of DunBroch."

"You…you mean, I have to stay here?" Heather asks.

"Don't worry, lass, I'll see what I can do about you coming with us." Eric says.

"Son! We have to get going! The boat can't leave without us." Lord Macintosh says, walking into the room. It's then he spies Heather in tears.

"Oh, lass. I've forgotten how sensitive you are." Lord Macintosh says.

"Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?" Eric asks. Lord Macintosh nods and Eric places Heather back on the bed and walks over to his father.

"Dad, Heather needs to come with us." Eric says.

"I'm sorry, son, no ladies are allowed to come with us. So she can't come with us." Lord Macintosh replies.

"What do you mean she can't come with us? She needs protection. She needs me." Eric counters.

"All right. Fine. But no funny business. We have to make a good impression on the princess. And by "we", I mean you."

"Thanks, dad. We won't let you down." Eric says.

After Lord Macintosh leaves, Eric tells Heather the good news.

Soon, the Macintosh clan – plus Heather – is on their way to DunBroch.


End file.
